


Heathens

by katie_b



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Prison, Angst, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Gen, Heavy Angst, Minor Original Character(s), Pre-Suicide Squad (2016), Prison, References to Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, Suicide Squad AU, Violence, josh isn't real
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13634943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katie_b/pseuds/katie_b
Summary: The guards pushed Tyler so he started walking. Prisoners' eyes followed him as he marched, neither friendly nor threatening. A laugh sounded now and then, most likely not meant for him, though every sound seemed amplified to his ears.When they finally reached an empty cell after what looked like miles of dirty cement floor and bodies lining up to see the newcomer, Tyler suddenly felt a strong urge to glance at the cell across the hall.Seeing Josh sitting on the bed, he sighed. The small flicker of hope Tyler had felt after the last time Josh had been with him was gone in an instant- his friend wasn't going anywhere, apparently.





	Heathens

**Author's Note:**

> I've actually written this shortly after the official music video for the song Heathens was released. The story is based heavily on the video, with a couple theories and references to the actual movie here and there.  
> I didn't intend for any similarities between this work and real life; the characters, as well as the plot, are based on the music video
> 
> Warning for mentions of depression, suicide and just angst in general.

Rumble from the airplane resonated through the small room. Groans were heard from the two guards sitting at a table- they were too familiar with the sound.

"Another shipment," one of them mumbled, taking a large sip from his coffee cup.

His words were dismissive, but he still gripped the cup just a little tighter. The plane arriving meant at least one disturbed individual committed a crime so horrible that the punishment was to be served here.

Belle Rêve Special Security Barracks. It sounded more like a glorified bank than a prison specialized in the worst types of criminals- murderers, psychopaths, all kinds of crazies.  
There were also the real freaks, ones who could barely even be consider human anymore. They were separated from the rest, put in special cells and depraved of any contact with the outside world. Many of the guards considered such measures inhumane, but knew better than to question the wardens. Besides, it's not like anyone wanted to deal with those prisoners.

The plane landed with a thud that was felt even in the guards' room. A few moments later, the small red light on the control board lit up, giving the two men permission to climb up to the landing strip.

The outside caught them by surprise. Spending days underground without seeing the surface was sure to leave some kind of mental scars, but again… no one wanted to bring it up with the wardens.

It must have rained recently because the ground was covered in large puddles and tire tracks were set deep in the mud. Colossal clouds hung over the top level of the prison almost as if threatening to collapse the weight of the sky on the building, burying it and its residents. No one would miss either one of those things.  
One of the guards took a deep breath, a reflex to finally being out in the air, but regretted it immediately. It smelled rancid, of decay and mold. Glancing at his colleague, he could see they'd both made the same mistake.

"Gotta love the job," he mumbled before focusing on the airplane in front of them.

The cargo door opened and a standard formation exited. A guard in the front, two on each side of the prisoner and two in the back. They completely obscured the prisoner from view, though the couple outside could see they were nervous about it. That sent shivers down their spines; how far gone does someone have to be to make those guys jumpy?

 

***

 

"Step forward. Look towards the camera. Turn sideways. The other side."

The orders were given by a detached voice, a guard probably used to doing this and having done it a thousand times. Still, Tyler could tell he was uneasy- the barely noticeable tremor at the end of each sentence, the fact that no one wanted to order him in person, and the overall atmosphere. They were scared of him.

The thought would have made him laugh once. Now he understood them.

He looked up when the voice announced, "Step back and face the wall," chuckling before obeying the order.

Two men stepped in the room and grabbed his hands. They were probably squeezing him harder than it was necessary; it's not like Tyler could overpower them. Even if he didn't have the cuffs on, they had physical condition on their side. The hunger he implemented on himself during the trial definitely took its toll.  
If someone'd come up to him and asked, "Why are you starving yourself?", he wouldn't have been able to give them an answer that made sense to anyone besides him. The closest would probably be to punish himself, but even that wasn't the whole truth.

A buzzer sounded, and the door in front of him opened. His two keepers shoved him forward, and Tyler nearly tripped. In front of him stretched a long hallway with cells on either side. There were hands resting on the horizontal bars- his own welcome party.

The guards kept pushing him so he started walking. Prisoners' eyes followed him as he marched, neither friendly nor threatening. A laugh sounded now and then, most likely not meant for him, though every sound seemed amplified to his ears. When they finally reached an empty cell after what looked like miles of dirty cement floor and bodies lining up to see the newcomer, Tyler suddenly felt a strong urge to glance at the cell across the hall.

Seeing Josh sitting on the bed, he sighed. The small flicker of hope Tyler had felt after the last time Josh had been with him was gone in an instant- his friend wasn't going anywhere, apparently.

Josh didn't say anything, just like all of the previous times. He just sat still, staring at Tyler, his eyes sad and conveying the message so much better than any words ever could.

_'Why did you do this?'_ he seemed to ask.

As with all things recently, Tyler had no reason, no explanation or justification. He'd already been deemed unstable; there was no need for other people to know about Josh.

Josh's lips turned up into a small smile. Another message.

_'I'm not going anywhere.'_

Tyler stared at him through the bars. He hadn't tried actually talking to Josh, couldn't force himself to face him. Just as he was about to open his mouth and speak, the loud sound of the bars sliding into place jerked him from his thoughts back into reality.

"Watch it," one of the guards sneered after seeing him jump back in surprise. "Wouldn't want you hurting yourself, now." He laughed at his own joke and cracked a couple more while they were walking away.

Tyler waited until they were gone down the hallway, their voices lost in the chatter of other inmates before allowing himself to breathe. The anger subsided slowly, though the vision of holding the guard's head between his hands while the rest of him lay on the floor remained.

 

***

 

Even though barely a week had passed since coming here, Tyler found it easy to fall into the routine.

After the lights woke him up, it was time for breakfast in the prison's large dining room. Meals weren't actually all that bad, and it was great to eat again.

Then most of the prisoners would get one task or the other, such as cleaning a part of the prison or help with renewals. Being a fresh prisoner, no one trusted Tyler enough to give him any kind of mission. So he was stuck in his cell until lunch with Josh as his only company.  
Some days Josh would show up sooner, waking Tyler up with his playing. Those mornings were his favorite. If he closed his eyes and ignored the smell of despair that stretched throughout the whole of Belle Rêve, he could pretend nothing had changed. Josh was simply practicing and letting Tyler know he was a lazy-ass.

The lunch was followed by more tasks for some, but most of the men would get free time to 'socialize', as one of the guards let Tyler know. It turned out it was another way of saying the stronger ones create their small groups. For what reason, he couldn't say- it's not like there was any way the other prisoners could help if something happened. Despite most of people here being hardened criminals, Tyler noticed an uneasiness with which they regarded the guards and spoke about wardens in hushed tones.  
He'd like nothing else than to avoid the other prisoners completely. No such luck; as the newest member of the Belle Rêve community, he was like a new toy- everyone wanted to play with him.

The last one who approached him actually didn't seem like that bad of a guy. Not that looks or impressions mattered here.

"Name's Walter," he said and held out his hand.

Tyler was still kind of zoned out, sitting in the same spot for the last few hours. He blinked slowly and gazed up at Walter's face.

"Hi. I'm Tyler," he responded. There was no desire in him to talk to anyone, and getting just those three words out was tiring.

"So what you here for, Tyler?" Walter asked. "I'm here because I poisoned my town's water supply. No one survived. Not even the animals."

"Good for you." Another exhausting three words. Tyler wondered if there was any way to ask for being transferred back to his cell.  
Glancing at Walter, an idea popped into his mind.

"Yeah. I tested the poison in my house before going big. The smell was absolutely-"

Without any warning, Tyler grabbed Walter's head and smashed it on the table as hard as he could. There was a crack, probably his nose, but Tyler didn't stop. He slammed it onto the hard surface again and again, stopping only when guards surrounded him. It took them about two seconds to tackle him on the ground, smashing his head into it nearly as hard as he'd smashed Walter's.

"Check if this one's alive!" one of the guards ordered.

"I can't feel a pulse!"

"Get the medic!"

Chaos ensued, with all of the inmates being rushed to their cells like sheep. When he turned his head, Tyler could see blood dripping from the table, forming a puddle.

'I guess Walter's not going anywhere,' he thought.

The large room was quickly emptied, with only Tyler and a couple of guards left. The guards were mumbling amongst themselves.

"Shouldn't he be weak? How did this happen?"

"He's been completely calm this past week. No signs of aggression or defiance."

"I'd consider this situation a defiance, you imbecile. We're all gonna be screwed when the wardens find out."

A deafening silence fell upon the room as soon as the wardens were mentioned. Tyler's interest was piqued; every time they were spoken of, the tone of the conversation turned to scared.

"Let's be real, no one liked Walter. He was a loud nuisance. The way I see it, this psycho's done us a favor. We just shift all the blame on him."

That got a chuckle out of Tyler. He turned his head again to stare at the two guards who were standing. Another two were still holding him down.

"So many of you, and you couldn't have gotten to me before I dented his skull in? How is that not your fault?"

"Shut up, you small freak!"

"You're so incompetent, it's tragic."

Tyler started laughing again, barely seeing one of the guards pinning him down raise the butt of his gun and bringing it down on his head. The dining room and its metal tables disappeared, replaced by a sea of darkness.

 

***

 

"Mister Joseph?" A voice called out to Tyler, but he had no strength to lift his head.

Mister Joseph.

Mister Joseph!

Prisoner 1525!

_Tyler._

His name spoken in Josh's voice was enough of a surprise that Tyler managed to open his eyes. His head hurt like hell, and the room he was in spun around him, making him nauseous. He closed his eyes without checking whether it was Josh sitting across from him. The sight would have been too much for him in this state.

He must've groaned in discomfort because the voice reacted.

"Mister Joseph, my name's Gordon. I 'm a Warden of Belle Rêve Special Security Barracks. I'm sorry for your bindings. I hope you're aware why you're wearing them."

Indeed, Tyler felt handcuffs around his wrists, as well as his ankles.

"I guess it's because I attacked that guy."

"And you tackled a guard down. That bump on your head is the consequence of that."

Wait, what?

"I didn't tackle anyone. How stupid do you have to be to try to assault someone who's armed?"

"I don't know how the inmates' minds work."

"That's a pretty weak excuse. Shouldn’t you be one of the few people that understand us?"  
His nausea subsided, and Tyler finally opened his eyes and faced the man across from him.

The warden's dark eyes stared intently at him. He was amused, his grin a splash of white on his ebony skin.

"I'm glad you're finding this situation funny," Tyler groaned.

"I don't know if you noticed, but there are little opportunities for laughter here." He stood up and started walking around the room.

"Of course, we can't let you near the other inmates for now. There would be, how should I put it… consequences. You may be crazy, Mister Joseph, but so is the rest of the them." He leaned against the table. "It just so happened you're the newest liability, so we're transferring you somewhere where you won't pose a problem."

"Is that a euphemism? Am I going to end up at the bottom of some lake with my feet stuck in concrete?" The thought didn't upset Tyler as much as it should have. He could find less and less sense in living every day, especially since coming here.

He tried to stretch his arms, but the cuffs were restraining them. He groaned in discomfort.

"Now, that would be the easy way out, wouldn't it?" the man said with a laugh. "Don't worry, Block D is a cozy place once you get used to it. The cells are bigger; you'll have place to hang all those drawings."

Tyler barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes; it would probably only worsen his dizziness. He opted instead for an unamused look.

"Okay, I get it, you don't find your situation funny," Gordon said, raising his hands. "That's understandable." He straightened, picking up a file with Tyler's name and skimming through it.

"I have to put some kind of reason for the attack. Do you know why you killed Mister Frey?"

Tyler shrugged as much as the cuffs allowed.

"I wanted to be alone," he answered.

The warden nodded. "That's also written as the reason for the crime that put you here. You really like being alone, don't you?"

Tyler's mind was, without any warning, flooded with images of that night- the dark room with tiles painted red, Josh's body providing the paint, his hands red instead of black, and that voice…

With his head burning in pain, ragged breathing and teary eyes, he could hear it speak to him.

**'Nice job, Tyler. Finally, we had some fun.'**

 

***

 

Tyler knew, was absolutely sure, that that voice had a face, and that he'd seen it that night.  
He remembered standing over Josh, remembered hearing the voice, he even remembered raising his head towards the sound. The only thing he didn't remember was the face.

There had also been colors. So many colors. Gray, white, yellow, orange, brown, black, pink… red. Oh, everything had been red after a while.

He remembered waiting for the police and just being amazed at how much blood one body could hold - almost every surface in that room had been covered in it. He remembered the knife on the floor. It, too, had been red and slick with blood.

Josh's blood.

**'Finally we had some fun'** , the voice had said.

Finally. Like Tyler had been dreaming about it all along, like it'd been inevitable.

Fun. Because his life hadn't had fun in it until that night.

We. Hadn't he been alone? Or had the voice and the face it belonged to watched over him? Helped him? Showed him exactly where to cut?

So many questions, so little answers. And considering the situation, Tyler wouldn't figure out what had happened that night anytime soon.

Perhaps it was better like that; perhaps his mind used whatever little sanity that had left to hide the truth. Perhaps Tyler had known the truth would ruin him.

 

***

 

Cell Block D wasn't as bad as Tyler had expected. Sure, he was still in prison with no hope of leaving, but at least no one bothered him now.

He was alone at last.

Most of his time was now spent in figuring out _his_ face. He lost count of the tries, but he still continued. Each time the scribbles on the paper started resembling a face, the vision in his mind disappeared. Many of the drawings ended up covered in angry lines and discarded on the floor. But some didn't. Some were so close despite being ruined he'd hung them up one after another, and soon the wall above his bed was covered in sheets of paper. Each of them held something that brought Tyler close to figuring out what had exactly happened in his head to do all those horrible things to his best friend.

The fact that the murder he'd committed here didn't bother him nearly as much should have been a warning sign for Tyler. But the drawings, the memories, the sound of that voice combined with Josh's playing… it all flooded his mind so much there wasn't any place for guilt.

D Block wasn't a solitary one; there wouldn't be a night without moans or screams or sounds that a human being couldn't even make. They were a constant reminder that Belle Rêve wasn't an ordinary prison.

Tyler soon developed a habit of humming. It helped drown out the other things, including Josh. The sound would echo in the small cell, surrounding him and shutting everything out. With enough concentration, he'd even be able to forget the prison; the lumpy bed beneath him was part of a shady motel where they were staying the night, Josh was practicing out in the van, trying to stay quiet and failing, the TV in the room next to them had some horror movie on… Those were the happiest moments for him. But the reality would always hit.

They weren't on a tour.

Josh wasn't really outside his cell, staring at him with a sad look in his eyes.

Josh was dead. And Tyler killed him.

 

***

 

Warden Gordon continued his conversations with Tyler at a regular schedule. Each time he'd try to get an answer to what had been Tyler's motivation for the murder. And each time he'd leave empty-handed.

After another session where the warden had been particularly probing, Tyler heard Josh again.

He was lying on his bed, trying to ignore the smell of mold and rot which spread through the entire cell block. Usual echoes and moans could be heard, but one stood out. It was the closest the sounds had ever come to actual words.

_"Do you miss me?"_

He cursed under his breath when the noise had become loud and clear enough to hear. Ever since that first meeting with the warden Josh had been quiet. Something had apparently changed for the hallucination to reappear.

_"So I'm just a hallucination now?"_

Great, a mind-reading hallucination.

_"I'm not a mind-reader. If I was, maybe everything would have turned out different."_

"Oh, please," Tyler found himself responding, "how would anything be different?"

Silence, then a simple answer.

_"I would've known you needed help."_

That enraged Tyler. He jumped from his bed, turning around and looking for his friend.

"I don't need help! I just… I need to remember his face!"

Josh sighed from somewhere behind him.

"I'm so close, Josh," Tyler continued, "close to remembering it."

_"You may not like what you find in there,"_ Josh responded. _"In fact, as a part of your mind, I can guarantee you won't like it."_

When Tyler looked at the bed, he wasn't surprised to see Josh sitting on it. He wore his NASA shirt, and the sight would have been comforting if there weren't dark stains covering it.

Noticing Tyler's staring, he glanced down and laughed.

_"Blood is difficult to get out. Too bad, I really liked this shirt."_ He sighed, his face growing serious. _"Tyler, please. Leave it alone."_

"I wish I could."

_"Would it help if I said it's okay?"_

That drew a chuckle out of Tyler.

"You're a hallucination. My hallucination. You can't exactly be unbiased."

_"But you knew Josh. There's a good chance he'd tell you the same thing I did."_ The fact that Josh was right didn't mean Tyler would have to agree with him.

_"I really don't care if you agree as long as you stop looking for him."_

Josh stood up and walked up to Tyler. It was definitely weird seeing him like that, almost real.

_"Sometimes your hallucinations give good advice. But only sometimes."_

 

***

 

"Tyler, I'm starting to think you're enjoying this. Do you mind if I call you Tyler?"

The glare warden Gordon received was enough of an answer. Sighing, he sat back down and flipped through his papers again. So many sessions, so many notes, and not a definite answer. He was so sure Tyler was still tortured by the events that had put him here- the drawings confirmed it. Now if only he could figure out what exactly was he trying to draw.

"Did you kill your friend of your own volition?" The question was one he'd already asked, but this time something changed.

Tyler opened his mouth to answer, probably either saying 'Yes' or some sarcastic comment when he paused. It wasn't much of a pause, a second or two, but Gordon caught it. The hesitance in the prisoner's eyes, the color draining out of his face… The man sitting cuffed to the table in front of him was definitely haunted by something else than his memories.

"If you're asking was I alone with him when it happened, the answer is yes," he finally said.

"But I didn't ask that. I asked whether you were forced to kill Josh."

"Please don't say his name." Tyler's eyes stared down at his hands. His breathing had become shallow and the warden didn't stop asking questions.

"Why does it bother you so much? Is it the guilt? Have you even dealt with the severity of your crime?" His voice was getting louder as the warden had decided to get his answers either way. "You killed your best friend, your colleague! You killed Joshua William Dun in cold blood, and you can't even admit it!"

That broke something inside of Tyler. He looked up, the fear in his eyes replaced by anger.

"You think I can't accept that? You think I'm crazy? I know what I did!" He jerked forward, the cuffs stopping him from jumping to his feet.

"I remember every detail about that night! His voice, the knife, the blood on the floor and the mirror, the-" He cut himself off. With eyes wide open he stared straight forward, his body stilling and leaning back.

Gordon found the sight quite disturbing, something that didn't happen often. "Mister Joseph?" he called out.

No response.

Tyler wasn't moving, his blinking the only sign he was conscious.

Seeing this wouldn't lead him anywhere, warden called the guards who would escort the prisoner back to his cell. The good thing was there had finally happened a progress. Perhaps he'd reached it through wrongful means, but it was too late for regret now. As the two burly guards entered the room, Gordon wondered what had occurred to Tyler, what kind of memory had the ability to shock him like that.

 

***

 

The corridor stretched in front of Tyler without end, and it felt like every step he took was getting him closer to a chasm that threatened to swallow him as if he was nothing more than a speck of dust. The two men accompanying him might as well have been scarecrows for all of their worth. He'd been quiet so far, his mind was in a state of shock. That one missing detail had finally turned up, and Josh was right. It wasn't something Tyler wanted to remember.

But there he was, being led back to his cell where the only one to keep him company was himself. And that was what scared him the most. Glancing around, he tried to think of a way to escape. He'd heard the stories about all of the failed escapes, but there was one big difference between him and those other prisoners.

Just then, a voice spoke into Tyler's ear.

**"I know you missed Josh, but did you miss me?"**

Tyler twitched in surprise, knocking into one of the guards.

"Hey!" the man shouted. He grabbed Tyler's hand to steady him, but he broke free and clashed with the other guard. He couldn't do any real damage with his hands bound, and they knew that. Still, they underestimated the prisoner.

When one of the two tried to grab him, Tyler faced him and jerked his head forward, colliding his forehead with the bridge of the guard's nose. The man fell down, and Tyler quickly crouched next to him.  
He barely managed to straighten his arms before the other one grabbed his uniform, lifting him up and smashing him into the wall. All of the air in Tyler's lungs was knocked out, and he could barely stand while watching both guards straighten. The look in their eyes should've scared him, but Tyler had passed that point in the room one level above them.  
When he saw the guard's bloodied nose, he didn't manage to hold back a chuckle. That only got him punches from the angry men. They grabbed his arms and hauled him the rest of the way, dropping him to the floor when they reached it.

"Be lucky all your bones are intact," growled the one with a broken nose. "If you weren't Gordon's newest pet, you'd be coughing and shitting blood for a week."

"Stop with all the compliments, I'm blushing."

The guards only scoffed and their curses echoed in the hall as they left.

Tyler's smile hadn't left his face as he listened to the other prisoners and their groans. This time one of them was humming a soft tune, and soon everything else had quieted down. The song filled the D Block with calmness and serenity.

There hadn't been many moments of peace in Tyler's life for the past few months, a fact that made him appreciate this even more. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, relaxing his body and simply enjoying the melody. Despite the smile on his face, his hand remained clutched around a card, the key card he snatched from the guard's belt after knocking him down.

There was a lot of things he had to do, and not a lot of time.

Time seemed to slow down as the humming progressed into actual words. It surrounded Tyler and, at least for a moment, blocked everything else out. It gave him a chance to think, to think of blue eyes and blonde hair and how he wasn't going to see them ever again. In fact, if this worked, he wouldn't see another real person again. The fact made his chest ache, not with sadness, but with a fear of the unknown. So having Josh with him in the cell helped.

_"You're really doing this?"_ he asked.

"I mean, it beats staying here for the rest of my life. And I'll finally be free of him."

_"Are you sure that's how it works?"_

The question left little impact on Tyler.

"Even if nothing changes for me, there'll be no one left to hurt."

Josh nodded. This time his shirt wasn't bloody; Tyler took that as a good sign.

_"Did you remember everything? About the night you killed me?"_

Tyler hesitated. He did remember, he just lacked the courage to face it. But it wasn't like his mind would suddenly change.

"Yes."

 

***

 

He'd waited for a few additional minutes before using the key card on his door lock. Since he didn't know how long it would take for the guards to notice he was missing, he had to hurry up. It took him little time to find a fire alarm panel. It needed a guard's card to work, and even with that had no option for Cell Block D.

'I guess no one wants them - us - to survive," Tyler thought to himself. Again he wondered what exactly were the other prisoners. The singing had stopped, and now the only sounds were the usual moaning and the dripping of water.

With a swipe of the card and the selection of Cell Blocks A, B, and C, he created chaos.

Blaring echoed through the Barracks, and shouting could be heard as all the cell doors opened and released the prisoners. Tyler twitched as the gunshots started, but took a deep breath and started walking deeper into the cell block. He didn't actually know what he was looking for, though he somehow knew he'd recognize it.

The hallway was long and narrow, with doors periodically planted along the walls. Many of them contained the special prisoners and were of no use to Tyler. Until he reached one that was ajar. Opening it fully, he realized there were stairs behind it going down. With a deep breath to gather some courage, he went down into darkness.

 

***

 

There was no light down here, and the floor under Tyler's feet seemed like the only real thing in this world. Sounds of the riot quieted and faded away as he descended. Also, another sound slowly grew louder; a mechanical humming could not just be heard, but felt through the walls and the floor.

Finally reaching another door, he opened it. It led into a large and empty room, probably used as a storage long time ago. Now the only things inside were carton boxes covered in a deep layer of dust and a leaky pipe. In such a quiet room the dripping was almost unbearably loud.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Tyler tried to ignore it, but failed. It followed him as he looked around the room and found another door. This door wasn't opened in perhaps years and was full of rust. It barely opened and with a loud creak into an old bathroom. The first thing he noticed was a figure standing there, noticeable because of a pair of old bare lightbulbs in the larger room.

**"Hello, Tyler. Long time, no see."**

It was like someone both poured ice water on Tyler and punched him in the stomach at the same time. That voice- the one following him since he was a child- was back.

"Why are you here?" he asked. His voice was shaking, as were his hands. He felt like a construction about to fall apart because of vibrations.

**"I never left,"** the figure answered, stepping closer to Tyler and the lights. Finally his face was illuminated, and Tyler found himself staring at, well, himself.

But this version of him wasn't wearing an orange jumpsuit. No, he was above the real-life circumstances, always in his black clothes and red cap and that stupid backpack on his shoulders.

**"I thought you liked my backpack,"** the figure said, his hand over his heart in a mock gesture.

"I don't like anything about you, especially the fact that you exist."

**"I exist in your mind, Tyler. You created me, you gave me a name and a face."**

"I thought it would help me get you out." He was pacing the room like a cornered animal, constantly glancing towards the other him. The memories now returned fully; he finally knew what had happened that night.

 

***

 

After killing Josh, he stood over his dead body. Josh's usually pale skin looked almost white, blood still running from the stab wounds. Then a voice spoke.

**"Well, wasn't that entertaining?"**

The voice broke Tyler out of his trance, and he spun around wildly. Facing the mirror, he saw him.

"What did you do?" he shouted.

**"Oh, don't you mean what did you do, Tyler?"** Blurryface responded. **"After all, it wasn't my hand holding the knife."**

"I didn't want to kill him!"

**"Tough luck, kid."** The grin on his face was anything but compassion. **"You maybe didn't want to, but you sure did. And who'll be there to save you from me when you're locked up?"**

And in that bathroom was the first Tyler saw his other hallucination. If anyone had ever asked him, he would claim he had felt a hand on his shoulder just before Josh spoke.

_"Don't worry, Tyler. I'll always be there for you."_

That was last concrete thing he remembered because in the next moment his body was crashing to the floor.

 

***

 

He pleaded guilty and didn't even attempt to defend himself, mostly because he didn't remember most of the event. The whole case was then portrayed as him going crazy because of various reasons: jealousy, disagreement, money, fame… the list went on. He distinctly remembered one tabloid's headline.

 

JOSH DUN FINALLY OUT OF THE BAND

 

To say it made him angry was understatement of the century. It had gotten to the point where he welcomed the isolation of a prison or a mental facility.

Then a doctor came for a visit. And the doctor, a stern-looking woman with a voice that sounded like it was used to giving orders decided his transfer to Belle Rêve. And Josh stood behind her the whole time with this look of pity on his face.

After the meeting with the doctor, Josh had disappeared and wouldn't appear until Tyler would come to Belle Rêve. But Tyler didn't know that at the time, and as much seeing Josh helped with the guilt, he was glad his friend wasn't visiting anymore. To Tyler, it meant he was truly a lost cause.

 

***

 

**"Visiting memory lane is nice and all, but didn't you have something you had to do?"**

Blurryface was leaning against the wall and twiddling his thumbs.

**"I already told you, there's no getting rid of me. You can't kill your own mind."**

Tyler didn't shout or scream. He'd already made a decision, caused a riot just to find a way.

"I don't think you remember the song correctly."

He walked in the bathroom and stared at the mirrors. His reflection was in the middle one of the three; Blurryface was on his right, and he knew that if he glanced to the left, Josh would be there. With him until the very end.

Smashing the mirror didn't hurt like he thought it would. Besides, there wasn't much time for him to feel pain. He picked up the largest shard and before or Blurryface changed his mind, dragged it along his inner forearm. Blood poured out and Tyler barely managed to cut the other hand. The shard dropped to the ground, breaking into smaller pieces. Then came the dripping.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Tyler gathered his strength and walked back into the storage. There he sat on the ground and leaned against the wall. Josh and Blurryface both followed him.

Josh just smiled softly at him before going through the door to the stairs. But Blurryface remained.

**"Unlike Josh, you don't have to go through this alone. I'll keep you company until the very end."** He laughed. **"Also, this is my chance to show the world what you actually are."**

As Tyler's eyes fluttered closed and his consciousness drifted away for the last time, he saw a bloody arm reaching for his neck.

 

***

 

It took half a day to stop the riot. Thirteen inmates and five guards died in the process. Vast damage to the cells and the other areas. Door to the surface needed repair and it was stuck until then, trapping everyone inside. All in all, a shitstorm, and Warden Gordon was glad at least that was over even if the fallout was grave.

Then they realized Tyler Joseph was missing and also responsible for the past few days. The guard whose card he'd taken got terminated immediately- there simply wasn't place for incompetence in this prison.

Searching for Tyler had been another shitstorm. In the end they found him in an abandoned basement storage, just sitting. What at first the guards had thought was paint on his neck and arms turned out to be blood. When they found the bathroom, everything became clear.

Gordon blamed himself at first; he was the one to push him at questioning. But as time passed, he realized the outcome would have been the same. Some people can't escape their demons or can only escape them in death. Tyler had obviously been one of the latter. It was only a shame he dragged so many people, including his closest friend, with him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked the story, and please leave a comment if you did. This was the only time I've tried writing something "sad", and I would appreciate any feedback, both positive and negative.
> 
> Translation into Russian available, courtesy of the amazing Banana_Maffin: [https://ficbook.net/readfic/6619263](url)


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